KINETIC MONTE CARLO SIMULATION OF HETEROEPITAXIAL GROWTH OF InSb BUFFER LAYER AND EFFECTS ON InSb/GaAs FILMS

InSb films on GaAs (001) substrates have been grown using a two-step method by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method, based on solid-on-solid (SOS) model has been introduced to simulate the Volmer–Weber growth of InSb buffer layer on GaAs substrate. The buffer surface becomes rough obviously and produces an undulating profile during the last coverage of the substrate. The undulating buffer surface would play an adverse role in the surface morphology of the following InSb epilayer. Therefore, the growth of InSb epilayer before the formation of undulating buffer surface would get a better surface, which has been convinced by the results of atomic force microscope (AFM) observations.